The Most Dedicated Woman I’ve Ever Met

Everything seems to be reviews, news, and help. So when I was thinking about what I want to write about, I thought of a story that always makes people laugh and think “How could a person do that?” So, without further ado, here’s the story.

A few years ago, before I had my website, I was known around town as “The guy who fixes computers.” Every day, at least five people would bring me their computer and say, “Here. There’s a blue screen. Fix it and don’t make me take out a second mortgage for the bill.” So I would take them and usually have them fixed by the next day.

Well, one day, a lady came in and told me that her computer was broken. She described to me what it was doing. It had all the signs of a broken operating system. “How can you tell what’s wrong with it by just listening to me tell you what the problem is?” She said.

“Well, ma’am,” I said, “I’ve been in this business for a little while, and I’ve fixed hundreds, maybe even thousands of computers. I’ve seen this problem before, so when you describe it to me I can tell what the problem is.”

“Oh.” She said with a suspicious tone. “Well, if you’re so smart then why don’t you tell me how much it would cost to fix it?”

“$40, ma’am.” I said politely. “The place down the street charges $80.”

“Well I’m going to find a place that’s cheaper than you. Because I don’t love my computer enough to pay that much to have it fixed.”

“Okay. Have a nice day.” I said.

She left my shop on that sunny Colorado afternoon, speeding down my gravel driveway and turning up the dust like a thousand cattle. “Well, I probably won’t be seeing her again. Or at least not any time soon,” I thought as I got back to work fixing the computer I was working on before she came in.

The next day, the same lady called me. “Did you go to college to work on my computer?” She asked.

“No, I didn’t. But I have plenty of experience to do what I need to do.”

“Okay. Goodbye,” she said as she hung up the phone.

Over the next couple of days, I had at least 20 phone calls from this lady asking me questions about computers. I answered all of them nicely, but apparently not nicely enough.

And then, I got the last phone call. “I’m in Denver! And I found someone cheaper than you!” She said, excited.

Just to clarify, I lived in Craig, Colorado. So for her to drive to Denver cost her at least $40 in gas alone.

“Well, that’s good. I guess you won’t need me anymore.” I said.

“Aren’t you going to say anything about me driving all this way to prove to you that you’re not the cheapest?” She asked.

“Nope.” I said. “Because even though half of this town hates me, none of them have ever wanted to prove me wrong as much as you did. And I doubt any of them ever will.”

After that, we went through a little bit of jabbering about her proving me wrong, and then we hung up the phone.

You’re probably asking yourself what the point of this story is. Well, there are a couple of points.

There aren’t many stories like this on LockerGnome, and I wanted to do something a little different.

I wanted to prove to everyone who says that this world has gotten so lazy that it really hasn’t. (That only applies to about three out of 10 people!)

Questions? Comments? Leave a comment below!

My name is Mark Devens. I live in southern Minnesota, where the winters are long and cold, and the summers are just as long but a lot more humid. I love to write. I write everything from poems to tutorials, and enjoy every second I’m doing it. When I’m not writing, I like to work on computers, play with gadgets, and help people with anything they may need help with, tech related or not. I do some fishing, but not a lot. I’m much more of an inside person than an outside person. Since I’m inside so much, I often am very bored, and that’s how I manage to get so much writing in.

All she wanted to do was prove you wrong. Well, she did that, in a way. But was pointless. Great story. Would like to see more stories like this on Lockergnome.

richard grady

Nice story Mark. I don’t believe in pointless anything : The universe is varied, old, and everything in it counts for something, even a ‘pointless story’. Keep scribbling; I do.

http://www.facebook.com/joe.gor Joe Gor

Certainly better than my favorite support call. Computer would not print. Customer could not describe screen on monitor. Was monitor even on? No. What else worked? NOT MUCH THE POWER HAD BEEN OFF ON THE 7xth floor of the Transamerica Tower for 2 hours – she was a name partner in one of the biggest tech law firms in the country…as the elevators were not working either, but the phones were, she decided to call us for technical support on her printer…

http://www.facebook.com/joe.gor Joe Gor

Then there was the lady who could not plug the modem cord into the Telco wall outlet. I asked her to describe the outlet – sounded like a RJ-11 to me. Asked her to describe the plug on the cord: ‘It has two parallel flat silver prongs and another cylindrical silver prong’ – the happy Power Cord Plug!

http://twitter.com/djmoore711 D. J.

I strongly dislike people like her. Out to prove a point out of hatred.

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